Bar, Birthday, and Betrotheds

I have tried to chronicle my Alaskan adventures, well, chronologically, but I am going to start this post a little out of of order.  I PASSED THE BAR!!!!!!!!!!!  Goodbye standardized testing!  I am so grateful to all the people who helped me through the studying process during the summer, and the agonizing waiting process during the fall.  Alaska requires an additional ethics video (which I watched yesterday morning) and an additional $100 (which I begrudgingly wrote a check for yesterday), and now I am set to be sworn in on Monday.  The serious question is which certificate of admission to get.  Alaska gives us an option of a plain certificate which has an shaded image of the Alaska behind the text, or the picture certificate, which has images of Denali, a train, a shuttle, a church, a plane, a boat, farm equipment, cars, trucks, cranes, a frontiersman, the U.S. and Alaska flags, a totum pole, a walrus, a fox, a bear, a salmon, an eagle, a forest and a mushing team on it.  I am leaning toward the picture certificate.  It is pretty hokie, but very Alaskan.  What are your thoughts?

Two weeks ago, the Alaska Federation of Natives Conference was held in Anchorage.  The conference brings together different native tribes from around the state.  I went to the craft fair and picked up a great Christmas ornament for my tree, and purchased tails for our Halloween costumes (see below).  We also saw some really incredible native dancing at the Quyana celebration.

In my last post, I raved about the Muni government, and friends, they are living up to my expectations.  In hopes of alerting citizens to better emergency preparedness practices, Anchorage has participated in Zombie Awareness Month, and held a Zombie Apocalypse event at the local library.  Donnie, Yael, Hilary, Rebecca, and I had to run through three floors of rooms and stacks to collect items for our emergency preparedness kit without being touched (bit) by zombies.  The good friend I am, I may have pushed some of them into the zombie's way to avoid getting touched.  The event was truly impressive, we were running through the library, with volunteer zombies jumping out from their hiding places behind stacks, under desks, and in elevators along the course and giving chase.  When we finally made it to the safe zone, we were evaluated to see how much chalk the zombies had touched us with, decontaminated by the Anchorage Fire Department, and given a cure for the zombie bites (a piece of candy).  

This past week, I was asked (and honored) to perform a wedding ceremony for some of my football-watching friends on the top of Arctic Valley.  The weather the past couple of weeks has been beautiful - sunny and crisp.  Tommy and Kara are just really nice people, and there was so much love shared at the ceremony.  I'm not sure I ever want to get married, but If I ever do, this was not a bad way to go.  Marrying people is by far the best part of my job here in Alaska.  Its really nice to take a break from the acrimony of court cases and breaking marriages down, and actually get to build one up.

The freeze is upon us, it wa 13 degrees when I came into work this morning, and it doesn't appear it will jump above freezing anytime soon.  While the lakes are too deep for there to be a good layer of skating ice on them just yet, Potter Marsh, just to the South of the city, was perfectly frozen for ice-skaters.  The ice was clear and you could see down to the bottom, including air bubbles trapped underneath the ice, fish, plants, etc.  When we arrived, there were a ton of people, dogs, bikes, and even baby strollers out on the ice.  It was a crisp, sunny day with the beautiful backdrop of hillside and the snow-capped Chugach mountains.  I felt like I was skating through a Norman Rockwell painting.  I can't wait for the lagoon in my backyard to freeze over! 




Potter Marsh, Mother Nature's hockey rink



Skaters on the Marsh

Skating around the marsh grass still sticking through the ice

The frost on a twig makes it look like an ice feather!

Potter Marsh Skating!

Air bubbles trapped below the ice!

 Finally, this week was Halloween, Rebecca, Khalial, Yael, Hilary and I dressed up as a sled dog team and hit the town.  The best part about our costumes:  they kept us warm on the mile walk to and from downtown Anchorage at night. 

With the end of October comes the end of the sunlight.  The sun rises after I get to work, and after daylight savings it will set before I leave.  The lack of light is starting get to me in that I am more tired than usual, but otherwise, it is nice to get to see both sunrise and sunset over the mountains each day.  The sun isn't getting high in the sky anymore either, it sort of hovers as if it were 4:00 all day.  If only the sun weren't always at that annoying place in the sky where it blinds you while you drive!

Anyway, this weekend looks promising with a ski swap, my first cross country ski attempt, a Halloween party, two brunches, ice skating with my little sister, and a housewarming party!  I'll be sure to blog again soon!